


Everything about you....

by Boneralove



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Butterflies, Clumsy Louis, Dinner, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, Harry works at a hardwarestore, M/M, handyman harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-08
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2019-08-20 19:30:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 22,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16561901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boneralove/pseuds/Boneralove
Summary: Louis is redoing his kitchen. Well... trying to that is. He isn't very handy. In fact, he is quite clumsy. But he's in luck when he runs into a handyman he would love to get his own hands on...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A special thank you to my friends [Amyjz90](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amyjz90/pseuds/Amyjz90), Bells and [Sunshine28](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunshines28/pseuds/Sunshines28) for sticking through this with me and reading and editing. It was nice to see you write your own versions of our challenge. I hope to read more by your hands in the future. As always a thank you to Mia for reading and editing.
> 
> Also as always feel free to leave kudos and/or comment! Happy reading!! Love Bonera <3.

Ugh… Louis was not happy. He was standing in his kitchen, where he had been cooped up for the last three days, by the way, and things weren’t going as he had planned. He started living in his apartment about a year ago and he moved after decorating in a hurry. He was starting his new job which he had moved to London for and free time was a luxury he didn’t have at the time. He hastily put in a flooring and moved his furniture in as fast as possible.

So that’s why he found himself here in his kitchen a year later, covered in paint. All his kitchenware was packed in boxes and they were scattered around the flat. A right mess. He had started with the paint for his walls, a soft brown-grey colour that made the glossy white of the cabinets really pop and gave a modern feel to his kitchen. He’d have to pimp it of course with some nice accessories. But he was really glad about the choice he made. It looked really good.

It took him a little practice with the paint roller to get the paint on his walls without getting more paint on himself than on the actual wall. But he got it in the end and he thought he did a decent job of it. No, it wasn’t perfect. But that’s why he didn’t become a painter instead of an accountant. So, maybe it wasn’t as professional as it could have been had he hired a real painter. But Louis was actually kind of proud that he did this all by himself. He wasn’t a real handyman and he had been putting it off in fear of failing at it. So succeeding made him feel really good about himself.

But then… he had pulled out the kitchen chairs he bought on a flea market. Cute wooden chairs with a typical Venetian back. They looked worn out but Louis fell in love with them the moment he saw them. And they seemed to be in a decent shape other than the paint. So he bought them and brought them home. He got some white paint to give them a make-over.

But now he had opened the can of paint and it was pink. Fucking bright pink. Almost neon. Louis groaned and sighed loudly and ran his hand through his hair, only adding residue paint to the strands of hair. The last thing he needed was a run back to the hardware store to get this sorted. Why? Why could nothing ever go as he wanted it to?

He kicked at one of the empty Chinese take-out boxes from last night in frustration. It slid across the floor and tipped over on the other end of the kitchen. A little soy sauce trickling down and out of the box onto his floor. “Ugh…! Fucking of course!!” He grabbed a piece of tissue and wiped the mess picking up the box and setting it back again with the rest of them.

Louis knew he was being ridiculous, but he was annoyed with himself for not double-checking that it was the right colour when he was at the store. He took a deep breath and closed the can of paint again, making sure it was shut tight. It didn’t seem to be his best day so the last thing he needed was for a can of neon pink paint to spill in his car on the way over to the store.

He walked into his bedroom to put on his sneakers and grab his car keys. As he looked in the mirror he gasped. Shit, he looked a mess. Brown-grey paint everywhere. Little splashes all over his clothes, spots on his face and now to top it all off a stripe of pink paint in his hair. “Shit.” He contemplated for a moment whether he should go out looking this ridiculous, but he wasn’t in the mood to go shower first and change, to only get dirty again later today. He was just going to have to push through his embarrassment. He sighed and tried to pick some paint out of his hair. No luck of course. “Well, pink it is…” he chuckled.

He grabbed the can of paint and the receipt from the store and walked out of his apartment to find his car. He ran a hand over his backside to make sure there wasn’t any wet paint stuck to his bum that could get on his car seat. At least the sun was shining and the radio playing a happy song, improving a little of his foul mood. The ride over to the hardware’s got him at least one interesting look at a stoplight from an old lady in the car next to him. He simply pulled a funny face at her and laughed it off.

He walked into the massive store where he had felt so lost last week when he was picking out the colours for his project. Thank god for the nice lady that had helped him out finding the right utensils. He caught himself looking for her automatically as if she was his lifeline. No such luck of course. He sighed and walked up to the helpdesk counter. He set the can on the counter with more force than was necessary. There was a young woman on the phone looking up when he did so and she stuck up her finger as to tell him she’d be right with him.

Louis waited patiently but the phone call seemed to be a bigger issue than she had thought. After a few minutes, she covered the phone with her hand and shouted over her shoulder: “Hazz! Could you come to help out a customer here please?” From somewhere in the back a deep voice responded: “Yup.” And then a moment later a tall, lean young man walked out, munching away on a sandwich and Louis held his breath.

He was looking at the most handsome face he had ever seen. A bright clear skin with a sharp jawline. Dark curls wrapped in a headband surrounding the wonderful face and big piercing eyes looking at him. Their colour the clearest emerald green he’d ever seen. It made Louis swallow hard. But the prettiest asset of this work of art was his smile. It was a big smile with…. Oh my god… were those dimples…?

Louis felt heat rush through his body. How could any man be that perfect? Suddenly the man cleared his throat loudly. Shit, Louis blinked. He knew he had been staring at the man. He felt the red colour creep up his cheeks. “Uhm…?”

The man smiled at him putting his sandwich down. “I said, can I help you?”

Louis was still a little taken by all this beauty standing in front of him and he shook his head to snap himself out of it. Which made the man frown a little. Oh God, he must think I’m an idiot, Louis thought. “Uhm… yes… yes please.” It took him a moment to remember why he had come here.

“Uhm, it’s this paint… it’s the wrong colour. It’s pink” He had managed to actually form a sentence, thank goodness.

The man looked at him and smirked a little, making Louis almost go weak in the knees. “What?” he asked him trying to get a grip again. The man chuckled.

“No nothing. I just don’t think it’s the wrong colour…” Louis stilled and looked back at the man baffled, not catching on to what he was saying.

“What do you mean? It’s pink…”

The man smiled again.

“Yes, I can see that. And I think it looks lovely on you.”

And… oh… Oooohh…. SHIT! Louis had forgotten about how ridiculous a mess he looked. “Oh…ah…uhm…” he started stammering. The man suddenly burst into laughter. Louis looked up at him and started laughing along with him. “Oh, God.” He groaned and hid his face in shame behind his hands still laughing.

When suddenly he felt a warm hand take his wrist and move his hands away from his face.  
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel embarrassed. You look cute all covered in paint.” He let go of Louis’ wrist again. When Louis looked back at him there was a warm glow in the green eyes that calmed him instantly. He smiled at the man, blushing a little over the compliment he’d gotten.

“It’s okay. I know I look a mess,” he said.

The man shrugged his shoulders while taking a look at the receipt next to the can.  
“Mmm...cute like I said…”

Okay… Louis’ butterflies were definitely stretching their wings from their hibernation.

The man kept his eyes trained on the receipt like he was afraid to look at Louis. “Not very handy, I take it then?” He seemed to look a little flustered. Was this guy actually flirting with him?

“Uhm… nope… not really. The first project in a long time. I’m trying to redo my kitchen.”

“Ah…okay… And you don’t want a pink kitchen?”

“Uhm… no… not really. But this was supposed to be white paint for my kitchen chair. And no… I don’t want pink kitchen chairs either.” He added grinning.

The man snorted as he started typing on a computer. “I love pink. It’s my favourite colour,” he said definitely blushing now. He looked cute as a button. “Can you find the right colour yourself or do you want me to help you?”

Louis bit his lip and smiled at him a little insecure. “Okay, come on. I’ll help you.” The man chuckled. He walked around the counter and started walking into the long aisles of the store. Louis following him like a lost little puppy. He dared to sneak a quick look at the man’s behind. Mmm… cute tush, he thought. He immediately reprimanded himself for going there. What was wrong with him?

He didn’t even notice the man stopping resulting in Louis bumping into him and almost keeling over. The man grabbed his bicep and steadied him. “Hey, are you okay?” He looked worried now. Louis couldn’t be more embarrassed. “Oh fuck. Yes. I’m sorry. So, so sorry.” Why was he making such an ass out of himself today?

The man giggled and let go again. “That’s okay. So here is our paint. Kitchen chair you said, right? White…. Let me see…” He grabbed a can looking exactly the same as the one Louis had before. As he was squinting his eyes to check the colour number on the can Louis couldn’t help but stare again. The man turned and looked at Louis catching him midstare. Louis coughed nervously trying to act indifferent. But the man couldn’t have missed that and he smiled at Louis.

“Well… this is your paint. The not pink one. I sorted the receipt so you can just take it out with you…” He seemed to want to say something else but didn’t.

Louis took the can from his hands. “Ah yes, thank you.” He lingered without knowing what to say or do. He didn’t really want this conversation to be over.

“…unless there is something I could still help you with…?” the man added to his previous statement feeling Louis’ hesitation.

Louis snapped his eyes up to look at him from where he’d been staring at his feet. There was something in the man’s eyes that he couldn’t really place. As if his eyes had turned darker all of a sudden. ”Uh….I…I don’t know.”

“I could give you some tips on how to paint your chairs the best way…?”

Louis laughed at him. “Or you could do it for me, mister handsome handyman…” he joked. He instantly clapped his hand over his mouth as he realized what he’d just said. Ugh…no filter whatsoever, he groaned in his mind.  
The man burst out into a loud honk of laughter, clapping his own hand over his own mouth at the loud sound echoing through the huge hall.

“I’m sorry. I was joking of course.” Louis nervously tried to laugh it off and save the awkward situation he got himself into.

The man looked at him as if he was weighing his choice of words.  
“Actually… I wouldn’t mind. I love doing things like that. Especially for a pretty princess such as yourself.” Louis turned beet red at his comment. He looked at the man’s serious face.

“Are you actually serious? You’d want to help me? You don’t even know me.”

“No, but it’s a good opportunity to get to know you if you’d let me. I’d like that very much. And besides someone needs to make sure you don’t get yourself hurt while redoing your kitchen. I’ve seen how you operate.” He smirked at Louis.

And that was it. That smouldering smirk again. Those damn butterflies again. Like Louis didn’t have a say in the matter. Truth was that he didn’t want a say. He was fine with this result. He didn’t even care that his fragile state of being a handyman himself had been knocked out of the park. He didn’t care one bit if it meant that this wonderful, sweet creature would be the one doing his handiwork chores around the house. But of course, he wasn’t going to let that show. So he let sassy Lou out to play.

“Excuse me? Are you calling me clumsy right now? For real?” He put a hand on his side and popped out his hip to make his point.

He could see the confusion in the man’s eyes for a second when he started stammering. “Uhm…n-no…I…I mean… uh… I didn’t mean to…uhm…” But then he got a grip and must have seen the twitch in Louis’ mouth and the sparkles in his eyes because he straightened up and crossed his arms in front of his chest and said:

“Actually… yes. Yes, I’m calling it. You must admit I picked you up when your cute feet were tangling themselves just now… You would have crashed that pretty face into the ground otherwise. That’d be a shame.”

Louis looked at him for a second before bursting out in laughter again. There was nothing he could think of to top such a cute answer. He calmed down and smiled at the man.

“Okay, promise me that you are not a serial killer. I mean I’d be letting you in my house. And at least tell me your name. So I’ll know who I need to call out for when I’m about to hurt myself.”

The man’s eyes lit up. “My name is Harry. Harry Styles.” He extended his hand for Louis to shake which he did. “What’s yours?”

“It’s Louis. Louis Tomlinson.” He smiled back goofily.

“Well… Louis Tomlinson… although I’m not a serial killer, you might call me a thief… because I have every intention of stealing your heart…” he smirked before laughing at the stupid joke he made.

Louis’s face burned hot in a second. He cringed at the cliché pickup line, but the way he said it made him so endearing that Louis let him have this one.

“All right Casanova. You seem nice enough. If you are really serious, I’d like the help and the company while doing my home improvement project.” He smiled back at Harry.

“Really?”

“Uhm… yeah, I guess. I mean… it’s not like I know what I’m doing. I could really use your painting skills. And if you are really serious, you could maybe come over and give me some tips.”

Harry’s entire face lit up as he started beaming. He turned a little shy as he said:

“I’d like that very much. I could come over after my shift. I’m done at five. Maybe we could get a little bit done and order a pizza or something after?”

“That sounds like a plan. Do you have a pen?”

Harry handed him a pen he pulled out of one of the many small pockets his pants seemed to have. Louis took it and turned his receipt to the back and scribbled down his address and phone number. He handed Harry the receipt and his pen and looked at him.

“So… I guess I’ll see you later?”

“Hmm… yup.”

“Okay…”

“Okay…”

“Well then…bye…”

“Hmm… bye…”

Louis turned away reluctant. He would have just as easily waited right there for the clock to turn five. He started walking away from Harry. He didn’t see the way Harry was watching him until he rounded the corner out of sight. Had he seen it, he would have known he was in trouble for sure.  
As he was walking to his car he wasn’t too sure he wasn’t already on thin ice himself. This man seemed to be all he could ever have wished for and Louis was eager to find out if it was all real. And even though he had just made a huge exception in giving a stranger his address and phone number, he couldn’t wait to find out more about this mysterious, gorgeous, handyman…

***** Stick around to find out if Harry really shows up at Louis' place. And is he really as handy as he claimed...?

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry's POV on the day...  
> 

Harry watched Louis walk away past the racks with paint. He couldn’t believe this day had turned out the way it did. When he left this morning to come into work, he had overslept his alarm resulting in him running around the house to try and make up for the time he missed out on.

When he left his house just a little later than usual he was still running and failed to notice the puddle of water he stomped his foot into trying to make it to the bus in time. “Shit!” His entire left pant leg was soaking wet. 

“Grrrrr.” he groaned but Harry knew there wasn’t any time to run back to change his pants. He was already cutting it close to getting to the bus on time. He shook his leg as if that was going to magically make the water fall off and ran the rest of the way only catching the bus just as it was about to drive off. Luckily the bus opened for him and he jumped in.  
”Thank you, Phil!” Phil had laughed at him and said: “Late again Harry?” Harry just pulled a face at the bus driver and sat down in the first seat as always, chatting away with his friend.

When he had arrived at work Francis had already opened the store without him. He walked in and spotted her at the counter immediately.  
“Good morning!”

“Morning Haz! How are you this morning?”

“Uhm… kinda wet…” he said as he looked down at his still damp pants.

“What did you do now, you silly boy?” Francis chuckled.

“Mmm… just stepped into a puddle,” he mumbled. He went into the back to put away his lunch and jacket.

Fran and Harry had been colleagues for a few months now and they hit it off immediately. They shared the same kind of humour and that had resulted in a few weird dress-ups, using all the materials you could get in a hardware store when no one was looking. Buckets became hats, curtains became capes and the ugly green rainboots were often worn over a white painting overall to complete the look with a toilet brush for a sceptre. 

Harry had even attempted to play the drums once on a few buckets using paintbrushes for drumsticks. Luckily they had never gotten caught so far.  
Today had started off like any other. It wasn’t too busy so that gave the two colleagues some time to kick back and banter around a little.

A little later in the day Fran was busy and so Harry assisted a young man with a leak in his bathroom and he tried to be as helpful as he could. But truth was that he didn’t know a lot about bathrooms. He might have even offered some advice he himself wasn’t too sure about, especially judging the man’s face when he gave him a wrong wrench. He smiled at the man, quickly changed the wrench, hopefully to the right one, shrugged it off and hoped it would turn out okay in the end. The man looked handy enough. He would probably be fine. He hoped…

To top this disaster off, he almost forgot the last sport of the ladder he was on, trying to reach for a pipe the man needed and almost tipped with ladder, pipe and all. He could only just keep himself upright earning him a questionable look by the man. He hit the checkout still showing a blush all over his face in utter shame, glad that the man didn’t say anything before leaving the store.  
There were some other customers coming in and out of the store occasionally buying stuff, but overall it wasn’t a very interesting day.

Around one o’clock Harry told his colleague he was going to have lunch in the back. He was just sat down with the cup of tea he made himself when Francis called out to him in need of help. Harry walked out, still chewing on his sandwich when he almost choked on it. He managed to get a grip just in time. At the counter was a very pretty young man patiently waiting for him. And he was looking at him with the clearest blue eyes he had ever seen. He looked very cute all covered in paint, although Harry couldn’t quite comprehend the colour combination. It was a grey-brown on his face and bright pink in his hair. ‘Wonder what he’s been painting?’ he thought.

Harry tried to swallow his sandwich and actually succeeded without embarrassing himself. He smiled and asked the man if he could help him, but got no answer. It seemed as if the man was in his own little world. Had he even seen Harry? He was staring. So he couldn’t have missed him, right? Hmmm… weird…

“Ahem…”

That snapped the man out of his trance. He seemed startled. Had he been staring at him? Harry suppressed a giggle. He put his sandwich down. This could get interesting…

After asking the man again if he could help him, the lovely creature told him he was returning the can of paint that stood next to him on the counter. It was apparently the wrong colour. Harry wasn’t too sure about that. Pink was his favourite colour and it suited the young man very much so, he thought. He might have even told him so. Yes, he definitely did, because he remembered the man blushing fiercely and holding his hands over his face in shame. 

Shit, that wasn’t the plan. Harry had meant for it to be a compliment and sound cute, not embarrass the man. So in instinct he reached out and took hold of his wrist, feeling a little spark of electricity as he did. His arm was warm and his skin soft. Harry apologized quickly and let go again before he lost all control and good sense. What was happening here? He knew he had been flirting a little, but… Was it just him or was this man flirting back with him?

After sorting the receipt, so that the paint could be returned and making a little small talk, still testing the waters, he walked out from behind the counter to help the man find the right can of paint. The man followed him into the aisles. Harry wasn’t sure if he was imagining things but it was as if he could feel eyes burning on his back. It made him shiver involuntarily.

When he got to the indoor paints he stopped and was very surprised as the man walked straight on into him. He was only just in time to catch him before he would have fallen over and hurt himself. Harry only realized he was holding on to a lovely, strong bicep after the first scare was over. He let go as if it was on fire. ‘God, Harry, have a little chill.’ he thought. 

He quickly grabbed the right can as the man was still stuttering his apologies. He compared the numbers on the can and the new receipt and as he turned back towards the man he looked him straight in those pretty blues. ‘Oh god’ He had definitely been staring at Harry this time. No denying it.

“Uhm… Well… this is your paint. The not pink one. I sorted the receipt so you can just take it out with you…”

Should he make a move or just… he wasn’t sure. But then the man lingered and didn’t make an effort to leave just yet. Hmmm…

“…unless there is something I could still help you with…?” he quickly added before the man or he himself could change their minds. And then it happened…

As he was offering his help with some painting tips the man suddenly blurted out:  
“Or you could do it for me, mister handsome handyman…”

Harry couldn’t believe his ears and neither could the man, judging his reaction. He clapped his hands over his mouth. Harry barked out a laugh and couldn’t be more embarrassed. He knew he could laugh out very loudly at times, but here at his workplace it sounded even louder and he was feeling bashful all of a sudden about his outburst. He clapped his own hands over his mouth. They must have looked ridiculous standing there both with their mouths covered. But this changed everything. He had been right about the man flirting all along.

As the man tried to laugh it all off as a joke Harry heard himself offer his help to the man again. He looked back baffled at Harry’s offer.  
“Are you actually serious? You’d want to help me? You don’t even know me.”

Harry smirked at the cute man standing in front of him. He could see it was working. The man’s face turned a pretty shade of pink. He was nailing this.

“No, but it’s a good opportunity to get to know you if you’d let me. I’d like that very much. And besides someone needs to make sure you don’t get yourself hurt while redoing your kitchen. I’ve seen how you operate.”

But then the tables turned on him. Or so it seemed. The man popped a hip out and seemed to be offended. Harry had just called him clumsy and he wasn’t having it. Shit. He looked kind of angry and… his eyes… his eyes… were sparkling… That sassy little shit…

“Actually… yes. Yes, I’m calling it. You must admit I picked you up when your cute feet were tangling themselves just now… You would have crashed that pretty face into the ground otherwise. That’d be a shame.”

The man laughed at Harry’s answer. Harry felt relieved that he had only been joking and liked the man even more now than he had before. Humour had always been very important to him. A day without a laugh is a day not lived. After that, they had finally introduced themselves. Louis was his name. And what a wonderful name it was for such a pretty face. Harry loved the sound of that name.

They bantered on for a little and finally to Harry’s great joy made a plan to meet up after Harry’s shift. At Louis’ place. To redo his kitchen. That could get interesting…

And that’s why he was standing here in the middle of the hardware store, still holding the note with Louis’ address in his hands willing the clock to go faster so he could meet up with the man that may already hold a light grip on his heart. He startled out of his own thoughts and made his way back to the counter.

Francis was helping a customer check out on the register. She looked up as Harry approached. After handing the man his change back and greeting him she turned to him.

“Hey, you. Took a while. Tough customer?”

Harry rounded the counter and sauntered over to the computer standing on the desk. He sat down. As he started typing on it, Francis frowned at him.

“Haz? You okay?”

“Uhm… yeah yeah… I’m just… ahm…” Harry replied as he was typing away furiously on the computer.

“Okay… you’re definitely not okay…What happened?”

Harry looked up at his friend and sighed.

“Ohhh… Fran… I may have done something really stupid…” He squinted his eyes and held his thumb close to his pointer finger to emphasize his words.

Francis looked at him not understanding one bit.

“Uh… okay… tell me exactly what happened…” she said as she pulled up another chair to sit close to Harry. Thank god it was a slow day and no customers were here at the moment.

“Okay… so… remember the client you called me out of my break for?” Harry looked at her expectantly. Francis just nodded.

“Uhm… well… he was kinda pretty… and…” Harry looked at Francis from under his eyelashes. “uhm… I kinda flirted a little with him…”

Francis started laughing. “Okay Haz, that’s nothing new. You melt at every pretty face and you’re always flirting with everyone. Even girls…”

Harry chuckled at his friend's evaluation but pulled a mock-offended face at her anyway. Which made her laugh in turn.

“Okay so… maybe I do… sue me!” he spat back at her. Francis giggled. “… but this guy… he started flirting back… I mean… I wasn’t sure at first but…”  
He looked at her again and pulled a face. “… and then I might have offered to help him redo his kitchen…” He bit his lip after finishing his words.

Francis snorted. She looked at Harry and saw his serious face. 

“Wait… are you serious? No… you didn’t… did you? Oh my god, you did! Harry…! How could you?”

Harry looked at her dumbfounded but said nothing. Instead, he sighed, opened up the internet and started typing away again, grabbing a pen and a notepad….

***** Stay tuned for more...  
Next chapter will take us to Louis' house...

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry makes it to Louis' house...

After coming home from the store Louis walked into his apartment, still a little shaken up from meeting Harry. He couldn’t believe this beautiful man existed and that he had had the nerve to give him his address and phone number and actually ask him over. It was all very out of character for Louis, who usually wouldn’t be the one taking initiative, but rather be hit on by a nice man. The fact was that he had been the one who blurted out that not-to-be-missed comment at the store which got things rolling, and he didn’t regret it either. He liked this Harry character and was eager to find out more about him. 

So when he walked into his apartment, to say that he had freaked out would be an understatement. He forgot that his place looked a mess and he suddenly felt the need to clean up in order to make a good impression on Harry. So he started running around picking up empty takeout boxes and throwing them in the bin. Clothes that lay scattered around his living room were roughly grabbed and stuffed behind the wardrobe door. He’d fold them up later, he thought. The boxes with his kitchenware that were everywhere were stacked in one corner of the living room and he made sure that any other stuff lying around was stashed into a drawer somewhere. He could only hope he would find everything again later. 

When he finally finished, he looked around and brushed some crumbs off the table and onto the floor as he decided it now looked presentable enough. He quickly set the kettle back on the kitchen worktop and hung the clock and his memo board back up against the newly painted wall. He even hung up some new towels and his kitchen now looked a little like a kitchen again. When he glanced at the clock it said 5.25 pm already. Shit, he was running late. He knew Harry was going home first, but still, he needed to get a move on. He had decided that he didn’t want to look like the idiot in the store covered in paint, even if Harry had said that he looked cute. He wanted to look nice or at least clean. 

So he ran to his bathroom pulling at his clothes on the way and balling them up to throw them in the laundry basket. He practically jumped into the shower, careful not to slip and crack his head open. “That would not be a great beginning to this date.” He muttered out loud. “Ugh… date… date… nobody said this was a date… get a grip, Lou. He’s just coming over to help.” Louis felt his stomach turn with nerves. He really liked this man already and he wanted everything to go right. 

He quickly grabbed the shampoo of the rack and squirted a dollop onto his hand. He started washing his hair and felt the hardened bits of paint holding on to his hair. Ugh… The stuff wasn’t coming out. He let the shampoo sit and started scrubbing his face cleaning off the paint there. Thank god, that was coming off. He tried again with the hair he resorted to peeling the paint off with his nails bit by bit. This was taking too long, he thought. He sighed and rinsed his hair out and washed all the foam off his body. 

He stepped out of the shower and snatched the towel off of the rack, almost tipping the entire stack. He could only just catch them before they all fell to the floor. “Argh…Stop stressing…” he told himself firmly and took a deep breath.He rubbed his hair with the towel making it stick out to all sides. He had just started drying the rest of his body, when the doorbell rang. He snapped his head up in the direction of the door. “Fuck!” His eyes grew big as saucers. “Double fuck!” He just realized he left all his clothes in his bedroom. He quickly wrapped the towel around his waist and started speed walking out to his bedroom as the doorbell rang again. 

Louis stopped dead in his tracks and weighed up his options for a second as another knock rattled against the door insistently. He heard himself yell “Yeah, yeah!! I’m coming!” As he took a sprint towards the bedroom. He, of course, was being too hasty again and tripped over his own feet. This resulted in him smacking into the floor, losing his towel in the process. “Fuck!” he exclaimed. He quickly scrambled up to his feet grabbing onto the towel and wrapping it around his waist again. He entered his bedroom pulling the drawer to his dresser open and hastily pulling out a pair of black boxers. On his chair were his grey sweatpants. He grabbed them and ran back towards the door while hopping into his pants as he looked through the peephole and of course there was Harry, looking wonderful. Louis leaned his head against the door for a second and closed his eyes. “Shit,” he whispered.

He clicked the lock off his door and opened it slowly with a bashful look on his face and his cheeks turning redder by the second. When he came face to face with Harry standing at the door, he could see the look on Harry’s face as he took in Louis’ state of undress. Harry blinked a few times and seemed to be trying his hardest to not drop his gaze to give him a look over. ”Uhm…Hi…”

“Hi… uhm… come on in… I’m not quite ready yet…” he said as he turned and quickly walked towards his bathroom. “The living room is over there…” he waved with his free hand. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right out.” He missed the fact that Harry stood in the doorway for a beat after Louis walked away and closed his eyes and swallowed hard. 

Louis stood in the bathroom he looked in the mirror and shook his head. Wow, this had turned out slightly different than he’d planned. He had opened the door half naked to Harry with his hair looking like a scarecrow. Maybe not the first impression he wanted to make. He combed his fingers through his hair and looked around for his hair dryer when he remembered he’d seen it in the living room. He walked out again to find Harry sitting on the couch, patiently waiting for him. He smiled at him as he found his dryer and plugged it in. 

“Uhm… did I come by too early?” Harry carefully asked.

“Oh…no…no… I just lost track of time and well… yeah…”

Harry simply nodded at his answer. 

“Uhm…Is it okay if I order the pizza’s first before we get to the painting part? I’m kinda really hungry…”

He took out his phone to make the order and Louis looked up at him. 

“Oh yeah, sure, no problem. Could you order me a pepperoni and mushroom pizza?” Louis said as he started drying his hair. Harry smiled and nodded.

He turned so he could see Harry while he was drying his hair, only now taking the time to really look at him. The man looked very handsome, fiddling on his phone, probably ordering their pizza’s. He was wearing black skinny jeans with tears on the knees and a dark grey shirt. The light grey hoodie and the orange beanie he was wearing when Louis let him in were in his lap, making Louis realise he was still wearing next-to-nothing. He suddenly felt a little awkward. When his hair was dry enough to his liking, he quickly got up and jogged to his bedroom. When he came back to the living room he was wearing a white shirt. He thought he saw a relieved expression on Harry’s face for a second.

“So, can I get you something to drink?” Louis glanced at Harry who was already looking at him.

“Uhm… yeah, thanks. Some water is just fine. Pizza’s are on the way.”

Louis nodded and walked into his kitchen to get their drinks. When he came back Harry was still sitting on the couch, and he seemed to be still as uncomfortable as before. Louis sat down on the other end of his couch pulling his own legs under himself.

“So, this is kinda weird. Uhm… tell me something about yourself, Harold. Since I don’t know Jack-shit about you…” He smiled at Harry, who returned the favour. 

“Okay… so… I’m Harry. Not even Harold. Just Harry. And I’m from Holmes Chapel. That’s where my family lives. And I’ve only moved here about half a year ago. I live in an apartment on the third floor just a few blocks away from the Tower Bridge, but no view of it sadly. My view is a brick wall and I only get a little sunlight, it’s a really sad apartment, really but it’s all I could afford at the time and now I’m just too lazy to look for something else and I kinda like my neighbours and…..I’m rambling. I’m sorry…”He let his head drop in shame.

Louis snorted. “No, it's ok. I like hearing you talk. You have a lovely voice. Should do something for radio. You’d be good at that.”

Harry smiled. “So, what about you? Who are you, Louis? Tell me…”

Louis blushed. “Well… not much to know really… I’m from Doncaster. My Mum and my siblings still live there. I have a lot of them. Came here about a year ago for my job. I’m an accountant. Always had a knack for numbers. 28 is my favourite. Don’t know why though. It just is… Uhm… let’s see… I’m a big soccer fan. Doncaster Rovers obviously. And I love…

The doorbell rang…

They both looked up towards the door. Louis got up from the couch and grabbed some money from a drawer. “Uhm could you maybe get some cutlery from the kitchen? Top drawer.” He walked off before Harry could answer. He opened the door and tried to pay the pizza guy, only finding out Harry had apparently already paid online. He thanked the boy, closed the door and carried the two pizza’s back inside with him. Harry had set knives and forks on his dining table and was now carrying their glasses with him to the table and sitting down on the chair. 

“Oh… that smells so good!” 

“Uhm… yeah. Harry, did you pay online? How much is it? I’ll give it back to you.”  
Harry was opening the boxes trying to find out which pizza was his.

“No Louis, that’s okay. You don’t have to. I’d like to buy you a pizza. In honour of us becoming new friends.” He looked up and smiled at Louis.

Louis sighed. “I should be buying you pizza. You’re here to help ME. I’m the one in debt here.”

“You can make it up another time, okay? Now come on, before they get cold.”

Louis sat down opposite Harry. The man seemed to have relaxed a little and they started eating and easily conversing about random stuff trying to find out the other's interests. As a short silence fell Harry suddenly looked up at Louis and huffed a puff of air out, smirking. Louis looked back at him puzzled. “What?”

“Well… are you ever gonna tell me what that loud thud was just before you opened the door tonight???” He pulled up his eyebrows. “You fell, didn’t you?” He was biting his lower lip trying not to laugh.  
Louis almost choked on the bite of pizza in his mouth. He coughed and quickly took a sip from his glass. He looked up at Harry knowing he could already tell the answer. There was no denying it. 

“Alright alright… yeah, I did. Like I said I was late and then the bell rang and then… well…“  
Harry snorted. Louis blushed. But wait, this wouldn’t do. He wasn’t gonna blush alone…mmm… Harry picked up his glass to drink.

“Yep… so… here I was… almost broke a hip trying to accommodate your impatient arse at the door… would you have come to pick me up from the floor...all in my glorious entirely nude state?”

Harry sputtered out the water that he was drinking and coughed loudly. Louis smirked with self satisfaction. Harry looked up at him and started laughing. “Oh my god!” he laughed as he covered his eyes with his hands. Louis started laughing along and that seemed to take away any awkwardness between them. They finished their food and joked around, laughing and nudging each other playfully, jabbing at the other with sharp comments.

After dinner, Louis picked up the empty boxes and walked over to the kitchen, Harry following in his wake. He put the boxes in his recycle bin and the cutlery in the dishwasher. Harry was lingering around his kitchen, looking at the freshly painted wall. Louis cringed. 

“I know, I know, it’s not very well done. I got paint all over myself. Should have met you sooner. You could have helped me out then.”

Harry cleared his throat. “No, no it’s fine. It looks really good. I’m sure I wouldn’t have done a better job.”

“Ha Ha. Stop mocking me, Mr. handyman. I know you would have done it perfectly. You are being too kind. I know I didn’t do the best job.”

Harry scratched the back of his neck. He seemed uncomfortable. Shit. I’m making him uneasy again when he’s trying to be nice and let me down easy, Louis thought.  
“Uhm...So…nothing to be done about that wall I’m afraid. That’s done. I’m just glad you’re here now to help me out.”

Harry bit his lip. “Uh… yeah… yeah...I’m glad I’m here too...but…”

“I’ll go grab the can of paint and the brushes and we can get started right away…”  
Louis jogged out of the kitchen, leaving Harry frozen in his place. He hadn’t noticed the way the man had fiddled with his shirt nervously and moved restlessly from one foot to his other.

When he returned Harry was typing on his phone. He looked up when Louis entered the kitchen carrying all the supplies they needed. He set everything next to Harry and pulled out the chairs.  
“So Mr. Miyagi… teach me how to paint…” he grinned.

“Uhm… okay… uhm… yeah…” Harry stammered. He cleared his throat and continued. “Okay… so… first, we need to… uhm… sand down the chairs so all the old paint comes off…?”

Louis looked at him baffled. Harry looked back cautiously and waited for Louis to say something. Louis started looking and rummaging around in the supplies.

“Okay… shit… I think I forgot to buy sandpaper...“ He pulled a face at Harry. “I’m sorry… does that mean we can’t paint now…?”

“Uhm… I don’t think so…? Yeah… no… we can’t. We definitely need to sandpaper it first. Definitely. Which is fine. No problem, I’ll just get you some at work tomorrow. We don’t have to do it tonight...” He sounded almost relieved. Louis frowned.

“But you came all this way for nothing then…”

Harry smiled.  
“I wouldn’t say that. I had a wonderful night so far. And it’s still early. Maybe we could watch a movie instead?”

Louis felt awful. How stupid was he for not buying sanding paper. Everybody knew you need to sand things down first before painting. Harry must think he is a proper dimwit now. At least he wasn’t mad and still wanted to stay for a movie. Which was fine with Louis. He was enjoying his time with Harry just as much as Harry seemed to be enjoying his company.

“Okay… yeah… a movie sounds good. Wait… you’ll get me some sanding paper tomorrow? Does that mean you’re coming back tomorrow to help me?”

“Uhm… well yeah… I said I’d help you right? So I will… if you still want me to…”

“Yes… yes of course. Please! I don’t know what I’m doing… obviously! I need your expertise, Harold! You can’t leave me hanging now”

Harry dropped his gaze to the ground and slightly nodded. Was he shy again? Louis couldn’t see what he said could have made him that way. Maybe the compliments about his vast knowledge of handiwork? Okay so maybe he needed to cut it down on those remarks. He liked the not so shy Harry better.

“Okay let’s go watch that movie!” He pulled Harry by his arm back to the living room and flung them both on the couch. He sat close to Harry and grabbed the blanket on the armrest and draped it over both their legs. They bickered over what movie they were going to see and settled on the second Johnny English. 

As they were watching Johnny try his best to save the day and miserably failing he glanced over to Harry who was laughing at something that was happening on the T.V. Was it bad of him to not tell Harry that the sanding paper was in the other room? He just forgot that he put it there. Which he remembered after Harry suggested the movie. But he was fine with how this had turned out. He liked being on this couch far better than he would have been painting with Harry in the kitchen and the bonus was that he was now coming back again tomorrow. Louis smiled to himself and settled into the couch, slightly leaning into Harry. Just a little so he wouldn’t notice. Yes, smoothly done Tommo, very smooth, he thought.

After the movie ended Harry yawned and got up. He put his hoodie back on and pulled his beanie over his cute curls. As he was zipping up his vest Louis had to check again.

“So you’ll come back tomorrow then?” He cringed at the sound of his own voice.

“Uhm… yeah… sure… with sandpaper...so we can… you know... paint…”

Ugh, why were they being so awkward again all of a sudden? Louis twisted his shirt around his finger. He walked Harry to the door and when he turned at the last minute Louis’ heart dropped for a beat. Was he gonna kiss him? 

“I had a really nice time tonight, Louis. Thank you. He leaned in and quickly kissed Louis sweetly on the cheek. “Goodnight. And… uhm… you really should think about those pink kitchen chairs. It really is your colour, looks lovely on you…”

With that, he turned around and stepped out into the cool air and started the few steps down yelling a quick ‘bye’ as he disappeared from Louis’ vision, leaving a flabbergasted Louis behind. He slowly brought up his hand to his cheek where Harry had kissed him as if he could feel the difference there somehow. As if it was now magically glowing and sparkling. 

He then realised what Harry had said and brought his hand up to his hair and felt his soft hair. Oh, right he still had bits of the pink paint in his hair. He facepalmed himself for still looking like an idiot in front of Harry the entire night. He shook his head and made his way back inside to find his bed for a night filled with dreams of pink paint and green eyes….

 

***** Wow Harry really got lucky there huh…. Louis not having the sandpaper bought him some time. But how will he get himself through this home improvement job? And Louis… Will he figure out why Harry keeps acting weird?  
Excited to start writing the next chapter. Big things in the future. Remember it’s a slow burn… But I promise we are getting to the good bits!! So stick around and bear with me… All the love Bonera.

 

 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, they get to the chairs...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a busy few weeks. It is almost Christmas and a very hectic time for me. Finally got this chapter done. Later than I wanted to, but hey it's here. Hope you really like it. Again a thank you to my friends pre-reading and a special thank you to @sammyjak for editing the last two chapters! A special shout-out to Larryforever2018 for being a dear and loyal reader and for all your sweet comments! They keep me motivated to do my best to make this a lovely story!  
> Enough said. Time to read!! Hope you enjoy!! All my love Bonera! <3

 

When Harry walked into his place of work the next morning he looked like hell. He hadn't slept very well last night, his mind always fluttering back to Louis and the way his stomach turned at how sweet he had been. His eyes showed dark lines and he knew his hair was living a life of its own even with the scarf he wrapped in there to try and keep it in an array.

As he opened the door he heard the little bell announce his arrival and as he looked up Fran was already rushing towards him holding a steaming cup. She had a huge smile on her face. Harry looked at her dumbfounded. What the...

Francis handed him the steaming cup of what appeared to be coffee as she lifted his bag from his shoulder and steered him towards their counter. Harry just let it happen and went with it, grateful at least for the coffee.

"Uh... good morning?"

"Yeah yeah, good morning... sooo....?”

"Sooo... what?" he asked her cautiously.

"Ugh Hazza, don't tease... tell me everything about your date last night!"

"Oooh that. That wasn't... well... it wasn't... I mean..."

Harry just shut his mouth after that, not knowing what to say about the situation.

"Of course it wasn't... my ass. From what you've told me you both hit it off even in this boring store. So please just tell me what happened when you got him alone at his house..."

She raised her eyebrows a few times in suggestion. Harry rolled his eyes looking at her. He groaned softly and sipped the hot coffee wincing at how hot it still was and almost burning his lip.

“Oh no! Did he find out? What did you do, you oaf! Anyone can paint! How could you have screwed this up? Oh my God! We went over this! Extensively!”

His colleague was rambling now and Harry let her for a moment. He sighed and shook his head and sipped the coffee again until Francis caught sight of his amused face.

“I’m sorry. I’ll just shut up now. Just tell me what happened.”

Harry took off his coat and started telling his friend about how nervous he had been going over to his house and the way Louis had opened the door barely wearing anything, making Harry go hot all over. How he had waited in the living room for Louis feeling totally out of place and not at ease. How thankfully Louis had decided to throw on some clothes, making Harry able to breathe again. How they ordered pizza and how the awkwardness had lifted during dinner. Fran was listening to him as if he were telling her a bedtime story, all attention solely on him.

“And then we went to the kitchen to start the painting and it turned out that he didn’t have any sanding paper and I remembered what you told me about the sanding being half the job…  Well... we obviously couldn’t do anything, so we ended up just watching a movie. And I… think… he cuddled up to me, I’m not sure...” he trailed off.

Francis suddenly came out of her trance. “Just a movie?” She blinked a few times. “I mean… pizza and a movie, cuddling… sounds like a date to me… Did you kiss him when you left? Wait… did you leave at all? You look kind of tired…” She shot big eyes at him all of a sudden.

“Oh my god!” Harry groaned and turned setting the mug down on the desk. He picked up his bag and started walking towards the back to put away his things while he shouted over his shoulder. “You are the worst! And no! I didn’t. Kiss him that is! I did leave! Ugh… And I look tired because I am! I didn’t sleep well, tossing and turning in my guilt...“ He stomped to the back groaning.

Francis chuckled at her grumpy friend, looking fondly as he fled from her interrogation.

\---

After a day of helping customers in the store and dodging any further intrusive questions from his colleague finally, the clock turned to five o’clock and Harry couldn’t wait to get out of there. Unfortunately, he still needed to get the sanding paper and so he turned to Fran once again.

“Uhm… so… sanding paper…? Which one do I need?”

Francis was just wrapping up their cash register and gathering all the receipts of the day when Harry stood on the opposite side from the counter in anticipation.

“Oh shit, you’re going back there tonight? Why didn’t you tell me this? We could have studied a little. No time now. Dammit, Harry. Will you be alright?”

Harry smiled at her warmly. “Yes, it’ll be fine. And besides, there wasn’t much time today to help me. I’ll just have to wing it.”

Francis looked at him worried. “Wing it huh? That’s exactly what worries me. Maybe just tell him? I’m sure he doesn't mind that you know nothing about handywork.”

“No! I can’t do that. He already thinks I do. And I think that’s what made him like me in the first place. I can’t tell him I’ve been lying to him now. I’ll just... be all... paintey...“ He tried to crack a smile at her.

Francis just rolled her eyes and left the counter trudging into the aisles with Harry on her heels. She stopped three rows further and took a right turn. She handed him a package with beige sanding paper and held on a little too long until Harry looked at her.

“Just tell him. He’d be stupid if he didn’t like you either way. And text me if you need anything...”

Harry frowned and nodded muttering a quiet thank you. He walked back to the counter and got his stuff almost running out of the store. He barely just remembered to wish his friend a nice weekend. It was Friday and he was going to have to do this without the help of his friend, who was actually the handy one of them. And she was the girl here. Harry sighed and made his way home to change.

\---

When he walked up to Louis’ home he felt his stomach become restless again. Nerves, butterflies, call it what you want but it wasn’t helping. He had texted Louis that he was on his way when he left his work and Louis had told him not to eat. So he quickly changed into a black warm sweater and untangled his curls to look a little decent at least. Now here again on the steps to his door, it oddly felt like going on a date again. Still, Harry knew it wasn’t exactly that. He had offered to help and that was why he was here. Louis hadn’t indicated anything else.

When Louis opened the door Harry felt his breath catch in his throat. Louis was wearing clothes at least this time. He was wearing a hoodie and it made him look small and cute and cuddly and Harry suddenly wanted nothing more than to wrap him up in a hug and never let go. His hair looked soft and was draped across his forehead, making him look very handsome.  Harry struggled but managed to push down a moan, feeling in awe of the boy in front of him. Instead, he smiled at Louis and held up the sanding paper.

“Hey, you made it. Come on in… Hope you’re hungry...”

“Hi,  uhm… yeah, I could eat…” He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. The hall smelled like Italian food and Harry’s stomach made a rumbling sound as if it was telling him to follow the scent.

Louis had disappeared into the kitchen and so Harry followed him. As he walked in, Louis was putting on a pair of oven gloves with pictures of cats on them. He looked very cute with the huge gloves over his tiny hands. Harry smiled to himself watching as Louis opened the oven concentrating on his task. He didn’t notice Harry staring at him.

“Wow, you really cooked for us? That was so nice of you.”  
  
Louis lifted an oven dish out of the hot oven and placed it on a coaster on the counter. Harry’s stomach gurgled again at the smell and now the sight of a delicious looking lasagna.  
  
“Yeah… uhm… just wait with the compliments until after you’ve tasted it. It is still to be determined if its eatable or not…” Louis laughed. “Could you grab the wine?”

After he closed the oven, he lifted the oven dish again and walked off to the living room leaving Harry in the kitchen. Suddenly a wave of nerves hit Harry unexpectedly. Home cooking, wine… wait… was this… He couldn’t help but wonder…

“Are you coming? It’s not getting any better if it’s cold…!”

Harry snapped out of his thoughts. “Uh… yeah… yeah!” He grabbed the bottle on the counter and walked across the hall to the living room. Louis was already sitting at the table and it was neatly set for a dinner for two. He had even lit a little tea light in a glass. It looked wonderful.

“Wow, this looks nice.” He sat down opposite of Louis and poured the wine into both their glasses.

Louis smiled and scooped some lasagna onto his plate and after that onto his own plate. He lifted his glass and tipped it towards Harry.

“Here’s to this meal not killing us. I hope it’s alright.” He snorted at his own joke and sipped the wine.

Harry took his own glass in hand and followed Louis’ example. He took a swig of his wine. Wine wasn’t really his thing but he would make do.  
  
“I’m sure it will be wonderful. It sure smells good.” he replied to Louis. He set down his glass and grabbed his fork and knife. He scooped some lasagna onto his fork and blew to cool it down as Louis watched him intently. He tasted the soft texture in his mouth and instantly moaned, making Louis raise his eyebrows.

“Shit Lou, this is really good. Oh my god! I don’t think I’ve ever had a better lasagna!” he spoke, quickly refilling his mouth again.

Louis snorted. “You’re just saying that! I’m sure you’ve had better! Don’t you dare lie to me Harry!” he said smiling at the man across from him.

Harry choked on his food at the last sentence and coughed loudly. He quickly grabbed his glass of wine and took a sip trying to wash away the food stuck in his throat.

“Oh shit, are you okay?” Louis laughed when he was sure Harry wasn’t gonna die. He smiled fondly at Harry.

“Uh… yeah… yeah… I’m ok. It was just a little hotter than I thought.” He quickly averted his eyes from Louis’, sipping his wine again. He changed the subject as fast as he could, making a random comment about how good the wine tasted.

After that, they ate their food chatting about their day. Harry telling Louis about the busy day in the store and how he had helped an old lady pick out the new colour to paint her bathroom with. How she had changed her mind six times, driving Harry positively insane. But being the professional he was keeping his cool and still smiling at her while he planned her murder.

The way Louis laughed at his story made Harry feel warm inside and he watched fondly as Louis started telling him about his own day.

Louis told Harry he had spent his day shopping with his friend Niall. He needed new clothes and he had wandered all of London trying to find some nice new outfits. Niall hadn’t been much help as the man was content in just jeans and a band t-shirt, resulting in him telling Louis he looked okay in everything he asked him to assess.

They chatted away, smiling, talking to each other as if they were old friends catching up. Time was passing and they both didn’t even notice. Before they knew it the clock had turned to nine thirty and they hadn’t done anything useful. As Harry stretched his back Louis got up and started gathering the plates and their cutlery. Harry quickly got up to help him and picked up the now empty oven dish and wine bottle and followed him into the kitchen.

“You could start with the chairs while I clean up the kitchen…?” Louis offered to Harry.

“No way am I letting you do the dishes alone! You already cooked too!” He grabbed a tea towel of the wall to make his point. Louis looked at him and smiled fondly.

“Alright then. Dishes first and then painting…” he chuckled as he ran the hot water into the sink. Harry nodded contently. He leaned his back against the counter next to Louis watching him as he filled up the sink.

“What?” Louis suddenly felt self-conscious with Harry’s gaze on him.

“Nothing. Just that you seem to be the perfect little housewife. I loved your cooking. And you look cute all domestic like this.” He turned red saying it out loud, the wine obviously the reason for his blabbering mouth.

Louis laughed. “I love taking care of people. Think it’s something I learned growing up. I have a circus of sisters, all younger than me, so…” He smiled back at Harry.

Harry bit his upper lip nervously. He was showing his cards and he knew it. He cleared his throat and changed the subject. “So… any plans for the weekend?”

Louis didn’t seem to notice Harry’s nerves as he scrubbed vigorously at one of the plates in the foamy water.

“Nah… just finishing up here. I need to do some stuff around the house and I really wanna finish this damn project. It’s been taking so long. I just want my house to be done.” He looked at Harry. “So I’m glad you’re here to help me. That’s why I cooked us dinner tonight. I wanted to say thank you. And since you didn’t let me pay for pizza yesterday... Consider this my thank you.”

Harry nodded and hummed in response. He made quick work of drying their plates and concentrated on the forks extra hard so to not look Louis in his eyes. He was afraid he would admit everything if he did. Luckily Louis didn’t press on any further.

After they finished up cleaning the rest of the kitchen, Harry got the sandpaper he brought from the living room where he left it, as Louis got the chairs.

They sat on the floor next to one other, each with a chair of their own in front of them. Harry cut a piece of paper off for both of them.

As he handed it to Louis, there was a moment when their hands touched and Harry couldn’t help the flip his stomach did. He was falling hard for this boy and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it. Not that he wanted it to either. He looked into Louis’ blue eyes and he knew he was lost. He could only hope his blush wasn’t showing too much.

They started rubbing the paper over the old paint on the chairs, clearing it from its old dark brown colour to a lighter wooden colour. They joked around again like they had done the night before. Up to the point where Louis pushed Harry so hard, he tipped over and fell flat to the floor laughing until their stomachs hurt.

After they finished sanding a chair each it was late and Louis decided that it was enough for today.

“Maybe you have some spare time to help me out over the weekend?” he asked fluttering his eyelashes in exaggeration. He laughed at his own silliness.

Harry could do nothing but nod yes a little too eager. He could not and would not deny this man anything ever. He would do anything just to see him smile. He cringed at his own eagerness showing so obviously.

Louis gathered all the stuff together and set the chairs to the side.

“Ok great! Thanks! Uhm…why don’t you put on the TV? I need to have a quick wee and then I’ll get us a last drink. I’m parched.”

“Uhm… yeah… okay…sure…” He could feel his nerves surface again at the prospect of being close to Louis on the couch once more.

Harry walked over to the living room and found the remote. He flipped on the TV and sat on the couch. Some boring nature documentary was on. He quickly checked his phone and noticed a message from Fran.

**_How’s it going? x. F_ ** ****

He quickly typed a reply.

**_Hi. Still at his house. We sanded. All okay. x. H_ **

He immediately saw the three bubbles turn up and snorted.

**_Still there huh…. You little slut… ;-)_**  
  
Harry laughed.

**_Not like that at all you nasty woman. Get a life!! x. H_**  
  
Again the three bubbles.

**_Have fun sweety! ;-) Goodnight!_ **

He rolled his eyes at the winky face she sent and typed a quick kissy face back. He smiled to himself and put his phone away.

Sitting there on his own, suddenly he felt his eyes burn and he yawned softly. He was tired, more than he had noticed so far. He did have too little sleep last night. He slumped down a little into a more comfortable position. The noise of the TV was a hum in the background and it made him feel sleepier even more so. What was taking Louis so long?

As he was waiting for Louis to join him he could feel his eyes getting heavy and closing on occasion. He snapped awake a few times until he couldn’t anymore and drifted off into a soft slumber. He missed when Louis walked into the room with their glasses. By then he was passed out altogether on the couch….    

 

***** What will Louis do with Harry sleeping on his couch... Stick around to find out...

 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry and Lou take a break from sandpaper and paint...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it took me a while to post but I've had a rough time in my real life. I hope to sail calm an clear waters again now and so my time in writing will go up again. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks again to my friend Amy for editing and her brilliant motivation as always.

When Louis walked back to the living room with the two wine glasses in his hands he was feeling feverish. He knew Harry liked him. He could tell. He had been making gestures and comments all evening. And yes, he liked Harry as well. So maybe he did take his time in the bathroom to make sure he looked as cute as he possibly could be. Sue him. He hadn’t felt this way about someone in a long time and he wasn’t going to leave anything to chance.

And so he took a deep breath in the hallway and plastered on a smile before walking into the living room. The TV was on and Harry was on the couch… sleeping. Louis stopped dead in his tracks. His smile fell. Gone were any plans of a hot make-out session on his couch. His partner of choice passed out like a light. After his first disappointment wore off he felt a new feeling bubbling up to the surface. 

The man on his couch looked absolutely adorable like this. Louis set the two glasses on the coffee table and found the remote there as well. He switched off the TV to make sure the sound wouldn’t wake Harry up. He sat down on the corner of the table and took his time to look at the man. He looked so very young like this. More a boy than a man. 

He was on his side in sort of a fetal position. His hands tucked under his head. His curls seemed to be everywhere and a few caressed his forehead softly. His face looked relaxed with his smooth skin and his closed eyes. Eyelashes softly resting just above his upper cheekbones. His lips were slightly parted and he seemed to be mumbling something very quietly ever so often. He was obviously fast asleep.

Louis could feel the endeared smile creep up his face. How was this wonderful creature here in his house? How lucky could someone get? He remained in his spot for a little longer and took in Harry’s features cataloguing everything into his memory. After a while, he sighed, got up and found a warm blanket in the corner of the room. He walked back to the couch and draped it carefully over Harry’s body, making sure he was covered so he wouldn’t get cold.

He took another look at the boy and smiled again. He carefully brushed the curls across his forehead to the side. “Goodnight.” he whispered. He turned off all the lights, except for one in the hallway, in case Harry woke up. He then locked up the front door and made his way to his own bedroom. He stripped down to his boxers and got into bed. He was pretty sure he wasn’t going to get a lot of sleep knowing about the handsome man sleeping in the other room. He could always wake him up and… ugh… no Louis… just no… behave… he scolded himself.

After tossing and turning a while and listening carefully to every sound in the house, Louis fell asleep eventually. It was a restless sleep filled with images of the green-eyed man on his couch.

\---

Louis woke up to the sound of the toilet flushing. Right. Harry was here. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stretched. He checked his phone. Nine o’ clock. He could hear Harry stumbling around in the hallway. He quickly got up out of bed and grabbed his sweatpants and a t-shirt. He skipped around on one leg trying to get his other foot into the pants, in the process stumbling into his dresser, almost knocking over his stuff on top as he slid his arms into the shirt. He quickly combed his fingers through his hair and ruffled his fringe. As he walked out of his bedroom he heard Harry running the water tap in the kitchen.

When he walked into the kitchen he could smell the scent of coffee. There was a steaming cup on the counter and Harry was busy filling up the kettle to boil water. He looked handsome with a sleepy face and his hair even wilder than the night before.

“Good morning.” Louis spoke. It startled Harry.

“Uh… g-good morning… hi.” He blushed instantly.

“Did you sleep okay? Not too cold?” Louis tried to make friendly conversation even if this situation was a little awkward, leaning casually on the countertop.

“Uh… yeah… yeah… it was ok. You didn’t wake me last night…” 

“Nah… you looked exhausted. Didn’t have the heart to send you out into the cold.” 

Harry hummed. “Hmm… thanks.” He sipped the cup of coffee.

Louis raised his eyebrows.

“Oh… uh… sorry… I made myself coffee if that’s ok. I’m making you tea though since you said you liked tea…” 

Louis giggled at Harry’s awkwardness. “Yeah sure… that’s fine. Thank you.”

As he looked to the side of the kitchen, there was a third chair clear of old paint, next to the ones they sanded last night. Louis frowned.

“Harry, did you do this already this morning? At what time were you up? You should have woken me up too!”

Harry blushed again and nodded. “I woke up around seven this morning. My back was hurting and I couldn’t stay on the couch anymore, so I thought I’d get a move on with the chairs.” 

“Oh wow. So you didn’t sleep okay then… Sorry about your back…”

“Oh no, no, no… I slept fine. It’s just that my back hurts sometimes and I can’t stay in my own bed even, so… Sorry I fell asleep last night by the way. I didn’t mean to. I was just so tired and your couch was comfy and… well…” 

Louis smiled at him. “No that’s fine. Don’t sweat it. You looked very cute. And you did have a long day.” 

“Yeah…” Harry looked at his feet and Louis could have sworn he was blushing again.

“So… what are your plans for today? I don’t really feel like staying in today. Maybe we could do something fun? …If you don’t have any plans of course…” 

Harry looked up again. “Oh… no handywork today? Thought you wanted…”

“Yeah, I know what I said, but I’m just not in the mood. I’ve been cooped up in this place for days. I wanna do something fun… any ideas?”

“Uh…yeah sure… I know something you might like. Gets me to relax every time… Let me head home quick. Gonna shower and change. Meet me after? Say in two hours? I’ll text you where…”

Before Louis could even answer, Harry was already putting on his shoes, looking for his coat and grabbing his phone off the kitchen counter, putting it in his jeans pocket. 

“Wait! Don’t you want breakfast first? Can’t let you go out without being a proper host and feeding you something first… not just coffee…”

Harry smiled at him. “Thank you for the gesture, but I’ll eat when I get home. Can’t keep living off of you anyway…” He snorted.

Louis nodded. He couldn’t help the panging feeling in his gut. He didn’t want Harry to leave. He knew that was ridiculous because he would be seeing him again in two hours. And they had only just met. How did they develop such a strong bond so quickly? Louis didn’t know. All he knew was that he hated to see Harry leave…

Harry put on his coat and started his way to the front door. Louis followed him and unlocked it. Harry stepped out and turned on the doorstep. He licked his lips and looked at Louis in a way that made Louis’ knees go weak. The green in his eyes seemed to be sparkling. Shit.

“See you in two hours?”

“Uh… yeah… two hours…” Louis swallowed hard. 

Then Harry was gone.  
He closed the door and leaned his back against it. He could have sworn Harry was going to kiss him. And then he didn’t… This boy was gonna kill him. He vowed to himself to at least try and kiss him before the day was out. He wasn’t sure if he was going to make it through another night without knowing exactly how soft those lips were. 

He returned to the kitchen to get some toast and a cup of t… no… he needed something stronger. He picked up Harry’s forgotten hot mug and hesitated. This was surely a bit weird. Oh, fuck it. No one would have to know. No one would know. He was just being lazy, nothing else, he tried telling himself. Knowing very well that he was lying. 

He grabbed the mug and a bit of toast and sauntered to the living room and ate his breakfast with coffee in front of the TV. Right on the couch where Harry slept all night…. The blanket was neatly folded on the back of the couch. He picked it up and draped it over his chest. Oh lovely. Louis keened. It had the faintest smell of Harry’s cologne. He inhaled deeply and cocooned himself in it. No one would have to know about this either…

\---

Harry had texted him about an hour after he left to meet him where he was now. The entrance to Victoria Park, which was the park closest to both their apartments. It was a lovely September day, still warm for the time of year and Louis leaned against the gate leading into the park. He was a bit early, but that was only because he was so eager to see Harry again. And he was curious what Harry had come up with since there was never anything exciting happening at the park.

Louis was trying to wait as patiently as he could, fiddling with the hem of his shirt and scraping a little pebble across the path when he heard a roaring sound. He looked up and saw an old battered tiny pale red car drive up to the entrance. It stopped in front of him and he could see Harry inside vigorously trying to roll the window down.

“Hey! Am I late? Oh.. just a sec. There is a parking spot right over there…”

Before Louis could answer him, he was signalling the car and driving off again, leaving a cloud of dark smoke when he pulled up. Louis stared after the small vehicle. That thing was ancient. He chuckled. He walked along the sidewalk following after the car to where Harry was parking. 

He waited patiently next to the car until Harry was satisfied that the car was parked in a proper manner. He opened the door and… Louis snorted. Harry was just trying to get out of the car, but Louis might as well have been looking at a slapstick movie. The poor boy was trying to fold himself sideways to get his lanky limbs out of the small car. Louis couldn’t help but burst into laughter out loud. Harry gave him a foul look but started laughing too.

“Hey! Watch it, mister! You still need me for that painting job. Don’t piss me off!” 

Once he was standing next to the vehicle he looked all rough-and-tumble. He was wearing a black shirt that he was trying to pull down from riding up his tummy a bit in his struggle and his hair looked like a birds nest. It only made him look cuter to Louis. He could feel his belly tingle a little.

“Alright alright, sorry. You just looked like a proper Bambi there.” He snickered. “Whose uhm… car… is this anyway? This thing is antique.” 

“Hey! Don’t insult Geena! She’s vintage, not old! And besides she is Fran’s baby and she’ll never let me borrow it again if she hears you badmouthing her baby.” He patted the car softly as to give his words more weight. He leaned his bum against the hood casually, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Louis tried to keep a straight face. “Well, good thing she’s not here then…”

Harry smirked at him. “Yeah, you’d better be glad about that. She’d kick your lovely ass.”

Louis felt the blush creep up his cheeks at the comment and cleared his throat nervously. 

“So…uhm… what are we doing here? What’s your grand plan?” He eyed Harry curiously.

“Oh right… yeah…” Harry shot up and opened the car again leaning in, shifting so he could reach the back seats. Louis bit his lip to not burst out in laughter again. This car was really too small for someone like Harry. When he crawled his way out he had a black bag in his hands. He only just caught sight of the smirk that was still on Louis’ face. 

“Excuse me… were you laughing at me again?”

Louis made quick work in wiping off any amusement that was left and kept only the smirk. He stood up straight, put his hands in his pockets and shrugged his shoulders.

“Nah… although you did kinda look like a giraffe trying to pick the smallest blade of grass he could find… - he smirked again - but no… I was just ogling your fine behind…” 

He cocked one eyebrow. Two could play this game, he thought.  
And it worked. Harry blushed and seemed to choke on his own spit, because he was suddenly coughing like crazy. Louis patted his back. They both slipped into a laughing fit again until Harry calmed down. 

“So what’s this then?” Louis asked pointing at the bag that was now on the ground.

“Well… if you weren’t constantly laughing at me or trying to kill me in some way, I’d tell you, Mr. sassypants! Take off your shoes…”

Louis smiled until he understood what Harry had just said. “Uh.. what?”

“Take. Off. Your. Shoes. This is my revenge for laughing at me. I get to laugh at you. Or… do you know how to do this, Tomlinson?”

Harry pulled out two pair of black rollerblades. Not skeelers like Louis had owned once upon a time in a far and distant childhood. No. The old fashioned kind. Like in those eighties movies.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Louis just stared back at a serious looking Harry. Apparently he wasn’t kidding. “You’re not serious are you? You are… Oh God…”

Harry snickered at Louis’ reaction. He bent down and started fiddling with Louis’ shoelaces, trying to untie them. Louis looked down at the curly head in front of him and just let him. He sighed.

“Harry… I can barely stand straight on my own two feet without falling over or stubbing my toes. How am I ever going to survive on four wheels?”

When Harry looked up at Louis he had a big grin on his face and his eyes were sparkling. Louis gasped at the sight and remembered his earlier vow to kiss this boy before the day was out. He tried to compose himself. Now was not the time.

“Harry, stop laughing. I’m serious. I’m gonna break all my bones if I do this. I couldn’t do this even when I was a kid!”

Harry said nothing as he lifted Louis’ foot to slip off his Vans. He patted the car hood next to him and made Louis lean against it. Louis grabbed the car and tried to hold on as best as he could while Harry got the rollerblades on his feet. He then picked up Louis’ Vans and tore off his own boots and threw them in the car along with the bag and locked it. He sat on the pavement while he put on his own rollerblades and smiled up at Louis who was feeling smaller by the minute.

“You seem to be sweating, Lou. Are we uncomfortable?” That little shit…

He got up and reached out for Louis who hesitated in taking one of Harry’s hands. 

“Here… Give me your hands. I’ve got you. You can trust me. Come on…”

Louis reluctantly put both his hands in Harry’s and lifted up off the hood. He wobbled a little and that made Harry pull his hands so they ended up flush against each other. He could feel one of Harry’s arms around his waist to steady him and apparently one of his own hands had sneaked its way up against Harry’s chest to hold on. His skin was burning by now and he could feel the heat creep up his face. 

Harry took his hand again and extended their arms once more and started skating slowly backwards pulling Louis along forward. He tried to follow Harry as he moved his feet unsteadily across the pavement.

“That’s it, babe. You’re doing great. Just a little and we’ll be in the park. It’s easier there with the paths. Try to relax a little.” 

Louis knew his fear was showing on his face. He didn’t dare look up to Harry, afraid he was going to fall if he did. He was sure everyone was staring at him, but he couldn’t check on that either. He was concentrating too hard on not falling over. When they reached the gate of the park he ripped his hands from Harry’s and clung to the gate as if his life was depending on it. The sudden movement almost made Harry lose his balance and he was throwing his arms around to find it again.

“I need a little break…” Louis exclaimed to Harry. He looked up into Harry’s eyes, who was now skating around freely inside the gate on the smooth path wearing a beautiful smile, dimples and everything.

“Already? Not a lot of stamina there huh Lou?” he snickered. Louis squinted his eyes and sent a foul look over to Harry who caught him and started laughing. He skated back to Louis and stopped in front of him. Louis tried to relax his muscles for a moment.

“How are you so good at this?”

“I told you, I do this whenever I feel the need to relax. I love the free feeling it gives me. The wind swooshing through my hair if I go fast. I love it. Come on…”

Harry reached for Louis’ hands again and Louis was once more trying to find his balance and trying to move forward. They must look stupid like this, he thought. But at the same time he couldn’t care less. Harry was holding his hands and they felt warm and safe. Even if he was sure he was about to break his neck. What better way than to die in Harry’s arms, he thought. He smiled at his own silly thoughts.

“See… I knew you would like it…”

“Shut up, Styles… I’m trying to concentrate…” he laughed.

Harry was right. The smooth path was helping him glide easier and Harry sped up a little pulling Louis along. Louis was so nervous he started giggling as they went faster. Up to the point where he was letting out loud squeals each time he almost lost his balance.

“Haaaaarrrrryyyyy…..STOP!!! Oh Myyyyy GOOOOOOODDDD!!!! AAAAAAhhh”

Harry was laughing and all of a sudden he let go of one hand.

Louis screamed. “AAaaaaaaahhhhhh…. HARRY!!!”

Louis was grasping at Harry’s shirt to try and hold on but Harry was avoiding him cleverly.

“You can do it Lou!! You don’t need my hand. You’re doing it!”

Louis wobbled at little but found his balance. He held his hand out in the wind to help him keep steady. Harry beamed at him. 

“Don’t you fucking dare let go of my other!” he warned Harry, shooting him a glare.

Harry’s eyes grew darker it seemed as he answered. “I would never!”

Louis caught the look in his eyes and that’s when it all went sour. He got distracted by those deep green eyes and he lost it. He lost his balance. He janked Harry’s hand and was flying his other hand around in the air. The sudden jerk to Harry’s hand, made Harry lose his balance too and now they were both struggling to keep upright.

This wasn’t going to go well and Harry saw it coming. He steered toward the grass and threw his body around as they tumbled over. Harry landed on his ass and his back and Louis toppled over him.

“Ugh…. ouch…” 

Louis shook his head and looked up. He was on top of Harry who looked very pained. Louis laughed. “Are you okay?”

“Are you?” Harry looked up into his eyes and gasped. He blushed.

Louis frowned. “Uhm… yeah you kinda broke my fall. But are you okay, Harry? Really? That was a bit of a hard tumble.”

Harry smiled a little but his face still looked pained which made Louis worry.

“My back hurts a little. Maybe… you could… like… get off me for a little bit…?” he snickered.

“Oh shit…yeah…yeah…uhm… of course…uhm… sorry…!” Louis rolled off Harry and scrambled up to his knees next to the boy who stayed still on the ground.

“Is it bad?”

“Nah… I’m sure I’ll be fine. I just need a minute.” 

He moved a little and stretched. He put his arms behind his head and rested his head on them.

Louis looked down at him. He looked beautiful like this. His hair was standing out wildly from all the wind going through it and the fall had caused grass to find its way between the dark strands of hair. His eyes were squinting up to the sky, but Louis could still see the now light green in them. Louis felt his cheeks warm up again and he quickly laid down next to Harry on his back too. 

“What are you doing? Making cloud figures or something?” he snorted.

“Uhm… no… I was thinking… but we could do that if you want to.” Harry smiled. He turned his head a little to look at Louis. 

“Yeah…maybe not…” Louis smiled back. “Tell me about you, Harry? Why did you move to London?”

“Uhm… to get away I guess…I mean… don’t get me wrong, I love Holmes Chapel… but there are not a lot of career opportunities for young people there. Though my heart still lingers there I guess… It’s where my mom and sister are … and my old friends…”

Louis nodded. “Yeah… same for me in Doncaster. Not a lot of accountants needed there either. My mom hated to see me go. I used to help out with the kids so that was hard on her. But I still help out by sending her a little money.”

“That’s nice of you. Do you go back a lot? To see them?”

“My work doesn’t always allow it. This is my first long break I took since I started there. Only two more weeks left until I have to get back to work again. I was planning on fixing my house and visiting them after that. I miss them a lot.”

“Yeah… I know the feeling…”

“Yeah…”

They just lay there on the grass side by side and Louis was getting restless. There was so much he wanted to say to Harry but he didn’t know where or how to start. Harry had his eyes closed now and seemed to be enjoying the sun on his face, completely oblivious to Louis’ turmoil. Louis glanced over that lovely face. He swallowed. He was in deep and he knew it. As all of a sudden he realized something.

“Hey… you… you… didn’t let go…”

Harry opened one eye. “What…?”

Louis sat up on one elbow and looked at Harry. “You didn’t let go of my other hand when we fell…”

Harry smiled and closed his eye again. “Told you I wouldn’t and I won’t…”

Louis was silent for a minute and frowned. “You mean… you didn’t…”

Harry opened both his eyes this time and looked at him. The green had turned darker again. He sat up on both his elbows and turned to Louis. 

“No… I mean… I won’t… Louis… If you let me I will never let go…”

Louis swallowed. He looked into Harry’s eyes and he leaned in…

“Lou! Hey! I thought that was you! I was just on my way to yours!”

Fuck. Louis looked up. He had never been more annoyed to see his Irish best friend then in this minute....

*** Oh no Niall!!! Talk about bad timing!! Stick around to see what Louis thinks about his best friend showing up...

 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. I know I've been absent for a while, but life seems to interfere more than I would like it to at times. I'm writing on 3 works at the moment so I have been writing a lot this past week to continue them all. This chapter is a little different from what I normally do, but I like how it turned out. Again a thank you to my friends, who edit, support and motivate me. Couldn't do it without you. <3  
> All that is left is to say Happy Reading to you!!! Enjoy! All the Love Bonera

 

 

“Awww… and then you kissed…”

Fran folded her hands into each other and held them to her chest, looking endeared at Harry.

“Yeah… uhm… except we didn’t…”

Harry looked up at her. He was sitting on her couch, his socked feet pulled in under himself and he was cradling a hot cup of coffee in his hands. Fran was frowning at him from the other end of the couch, almost looking angry.

“Harold…? Why did you not kiss? Don’t tell me you need my advice in that department as well…?!”

“Uhm… eww… no!! Thank you!” He sighed. ”Trust me…I was just as annoyed as you are…more even!” He groaned.

“So… what happened?”

“Well… his best friend has the worst timing ever and decided to show up out of the blue.” He rolled his eyes at Fran.

Fran was trying her best not to burst into laughter and failing. She couldn’t help but snicker.

“Oh wow, that must have been awkward…”

Harry snorted. “Not even… This guy doesn’t get a clue at all. I mean… here we were all romantic and he just… bursts into our conversation… or well… our almost-kiss and pooffff… gone… any tension… gone… ugh… I think I hate him.”

Fran was biting her lip to try and be sympathetic to Harry but he was seeing right through it.

“Stop laughing! It’s not funny! At all!” He crossed his arms and pouted, looking like an angry little puppy.

“Oh, Harry…I’m sorry. So what did Louis do?”

“He was just as gobsmacked as I was, it seemed. Like he wasn’t expecting him there at all. Except this Niall character said he was on his way to Lou, so he must have known, right?”

“Mmm… I don’t know… could be. So then what?”

“Well… I guess Louis had no choice but to go back to his place with Niall. So we said our goodbyes and they left and I came here...” He sipped his coffee.

Fran looked at him over her own coffee.

“Well… at least you got to meet the best friend. And you know he likes you back. You almost kissed. And… you get to do it all over again. That tingly feeling that comes with a first kiss I mean…”

Harry whined a little. “Why are you always so positive? It’s annoying. Please sulk with me a little…” He tried to pout but failed, instead letting out something similar to a small chuckle.

“Oh, hush… you’ll be alright. Just kiss him the next time you see him. When are you going to see him again anyway?” Fran wiggled her eyebrows up and down and smirked.

Harry sat up. “I don’t know. We didn’t make any plans. What if I never see him again? What if he…”

“Whoah… hold your horses there my friend… no panicking on my couch. Just text him.”

Harry sighed loudly. He grabbed a pillow and hid his face in it. Fran peeled it off and watched him.

“What is going on with you? This is not like you at all…Just text the guy.”

“Ugh… it’s just that I’m not who he thinks I am and I hate lying to him. And maybe I’m coming on too strong anyway and maybe I should wait for him to make a move and… and maybe…”

“Maybe…maybe…maybe… Maybe he just likes you… Ever think of that? Huh…? He almost kissed you… Just text him…”

“Yeah well…”

Harry picked up his phone off the armrest next to him where he had left it earlier. He pushed the button and the light came on. He hovered his thumb over the screen in thought and put it down again. He sighed.

“I’m just-“ The phone suddenly buzzed. A text.

Harry quickly grabbed his phone off the couch again and opened his texts. Fran lifted a little in her seat as if she could read the text from the other side of the couch. She couldn’t of course.

“Well…?” she asked.

Harry’s face slowly turned into a smirk and then a grin, dimples on display.

“Well… that’s all I needed to hear…” joked Fran. “It’s him isn’t it?”

“Uh… yeah… well… I think it’s them both…”

“The friend?”

“Yeah…”

“Can I see?” Fran was already scooting over to Harry’s side and cuddling close to him on the couch, leaning in. “What does it say…?”

Harry chuckled. “God… no privacy here at all…huh…?” He looked up at Fran with a devious smirk.

“Nope, you signed away those rights when you asked for my help. And besides, you’re on my couch. I’m your shrink. You need to tell me everything, for science of course… Now let me see…” She smiled back at Harry.

They both stared at the screen reading the texts as they were coming in.

**Hi Harry….**   
**It's Niall…**   
**… and Louis… *he just slapped me for forgetting him haha…**   
**He is making me apologize to you and he won't tell me why… says you’d know why...**

**… so... I'm sorry mate…???**

Harry couldn’t help but laugh. So did Fran. “Well… now at least we know how Louis feels about his friend interrupting…” Fran said. Harry looked up to her and beamed at her.  
He looked down at his phone again and started typing.

_Well...hello Niall…_   
_……….. oh and hello to Lewis too… wouldn’t wanna forget him… 😜_

**Lewis here... Watch it, Harold or I’ll make damn sure you will never forget me again!!!**

Harry blushed at Louis’ answer making Fran giggle and pinch his cheek, teasing him. He swatted her hand away and stuck his tongue out to her before typing again.

_@Lewis 😳🙊_   
_@Niall sorry…? That’s a lot of talk mister… prove it…_

**Harold? Niall here… how??**

_@Niall… ignoring Lewis...😜 IDK…. put toothpaste on your upper lip…? Hahaha_

Harry and Fran waited patiently for what was to come back. Soon the three grey dots appeared before disappearing again. Then...

Harry almost spat out the sip of coffee he had just taken, laughing. Fran laughed out loudly too.

“So... I’m assuming the handsome one in the back is your man right? And blondie is the best friend?”

Harry blushed again and nodded, smiling so hard it made both his dimples pop. Fran looked at him and shook her head.

“Ooooohh… my little bunny… you are so very far down the rabbit hole I can’t even see your fluffy white tail…Hahaha” Fran was really having a field day. Harry rolled his eyes at her.

“Yeah… yeah… so… what do you think of him?” He didn’t dare look at her so he just started typing again.

“He is cute, very handsome. Shame he likes boys.” she snickered.

_@Niall… still ignoring Lewis… you look ridiculous, but you are forgiven. BTW what is Lewis trying to do there in the back anyway?”_

**Lewis here… trying to confiscate my own damn phone and trying to get you to stop flirting with my best friend Harold! I’m getting jealous over here… and feeling ignored…**

_Louis, why are you so sassy?_

**Idk, maybe I was born with it or maybe it’s Maybelline.**

_Are you sassing me?_

**Yes.**

_I’ll get you for that later._

**Please do…**   
**Send me a picture of you too!!**

Harry blushed again at all that Louis’ last message could imply. He could hear Fran gasp next to him and refused to look at her. He swallowed hard. “Uhm… could you...uh…” He looked up to her slowly.

Fran smirked at him and was already reaching for his phone. She sat on the coffee table across from him and snapped a quick picture of him waving at the camera pulling a funny face. He lined it up and pressed send.

Harry’s heart was thudding wildly in his chest as he waited for a reply. Why was this all so awkward? Why was he feeling so insecure about a stupid picture? He knew the answers to all those questions but he wasn’t going to admit to them… nope.

Suddenly the dots appeared again, making his heart skip a beat.

**Niall here… Lewis has fainted at your beauty and he ju**   
**Lewis here… Niall is a fucking lying leprechaun and he should not be believed at any moment in the expanse of time and universe…🙄**   
**… I like the picture…😏**

Harry couldn’t help the grin that was showing on his face, almost splitting it in two.  
“Oh my god, this is really serious,” Fran noted. ”I have never seen you like this. This boy must really be something else.” She looked at Harry with an endeared gaze, almost like a proud mother as she sighed and slowly got up from the couch. “Alright Casanova, I’m making spaghetti. Wanna stay and join me?”

Harry looked up at her fondly and nodded, a smile still in place. As Fran trotted off to the kitchen to get dinner started, Harry began typing again when…

**So… I still need help with my last chair…?**

_Ahem… I hope you weren’t assuming that I was abandoning my task, were you? 😜_

**Obviously not! Since you are a professional after all...**

Harry’s smile fell at Louis’ last text. He felt like an utter ass. How was he ever going to come clean to Louis? He hated himself for lying about his skills and the boy seemed to like him for exactly that part of him. But he liked him too much to just give up what was between them. No, he would just have to find a way to make this work. He would just have to act as if he knew all and everything there was about handiwork. He had to. For Louis. So he would. If it’d be the last thing he’d do.

**So…????**   
**You still there...?**

Harry realised he had been sitting there just staring at the text and thinking, making Louis wait for his answer. He seemed anxious to get one.

_Yeah..yeah... I’m here. When would you like to paint again? I could do tomorrow?_

**Tomorrow’s good for me. As long as it’s not at the buttcrack of dawn.**

_I love buttcrack...😜😜😜_

**Harold…!! Naughty…!!🙊**

Harry smirked at his phone. He loved that Louis got his humour. At times people had told him he could be annoying with his lame jokes, but Louis was different. He seemed to get the puns Harry threw at him and seemed to be just as naughty as Harry was. They surely would be a handful together.

_At what time does the royal princess rise from her bed?_

**Don’t push it, mister!! How about we meet up at about 11.30?**

_Cool! I’ll bring you a nice cup of coffee...😉_

**Make it tea and I’ll actually let you in...😂**   
**Gotta go now though. Niall is being a pain again… He found my liquor stash…**

Harry giggled to himself imagining Louis tackling Niall into a headlock to get him away from the liquor. He was Irish after all. A man could be ruined after having him over.

_Hahaha Go!! Save it!! And save me some!!_

**😂😂 I will… See you tomorrow?**

_Yeah, see you tomorrow… bye_

Harry started to get up to go and find Fran in the kitchen. He hesitated as he hit the send button. Should he have added a winky face or maybe even a k-

**😉 Xx**

His face erupted into a huge smile as he saw the emoji with the x’s Louis had sent him. Okay… this was looking very promising. He opened his keypad one more time and found what he was looking for, smile firmly in place as he sent his last text today.

_Bye. 😘 😘_

  
  
  


Awwww Don't you just love how disgustingly cute they are...? I do... and I know what's going to happen... which is a shocker... next chapter... so... stay tuned...

 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one is gonna shock you... I think. I have been planning this from the beginning and I can't wait to read your reactions on it. Not spoiling anything. You're just gonna have to read... Enjoy!!!

 

A loud banging was sounding in his head. Louis groaned. He turned over in his bed only to slam into someone else's body, making that person groan as well. He peered through his eyelashes, careful to not let too much light in. Ugh… there was a grouching Irishman next to him in bed. He ducked his head back under the covers groaning again. 

It was exactly this Irishman’s fault he was feeling the way he was feeling. If someone were to tell him he was dead, he would believe them at their word. It would make sense, the way his body was reacting. It felt heavy and numb, his head banging as if he were at a heavy metal concert. The taste in his mouth was definitely of something that had died. And he most likely smelled like a dead man too.

Bang bang bang… It took Louis a moment to register that the banging wasn’t just from his head. Yes, his head was hurting like a beating drum, but the noise he was hearing was from someone banging his front door. A minute later his phone buzzed on the nightstand. Louis groaned again and rubbed the back of his hands over his eyes to try and get the sleep out. This light was too much...ugh…

He blindly felt his way around the nightstand next to him until he found his phone, picked it up and squinted his eyes at the bright light that it gave off. Unopened messages and a missed call. All within the last half hour. Harry… HARRY… oh shit!!! He glanced at the time and… FUCK!!

He cursed out loud and turned around to look at Niall who was still fast asleep. At any other given moment, he would have woken up his friend and given him shit for looking like a fucking baby when he slept, but not today. There wasn’t any time for that. 

He pulled back his leg and kicked Niall as hard as he could. He deserved it, after all, making Louis pass out like this after a night of drinking. “It’ll be fun.” Niall had said. Louis wasn’t exactly seeing the fun side at the moment and he silently swore to never drink again, knowing he would never make good on that promise. 

Niall growled out. “Ouch...what the fuck!!! Lou... you idiot… god!!!” Niall turned around and hid under the covers again, every intention of ignoring Louis’ antics and sleeping in. 

“Get up you fucker!! Harry’s already here! Get your Irish arse out of my bed!” 

Louis pulled the covers off of the bed leaving Niall to shriek at the cold air that was suddenly hitting him. He then pulled at the curtains to let the light in. Niall groaned loudly in protest from the bed. He opened the door to the hallway and scrunched his nose. The air in the hallway was definitely fresher than the one in the room he was coming out of.

Harry was still knocking on the door in a nonstop dull rhythm. Louis ran toward the door yelling all the way. “Yeah, yeah… I’m coming Haz! Stop knocking my door down, please!”

He yanked the door open and there was Harry, eyes wide and dark green at the sight before him, eyes slowly raking down his body, a smirk appearing on his face. Taking in all that was Louis. Louis realised he was just in his tight black boxers and blushed, turning around and running off to the stale smelling room with the lazy Irish man in it, giving Harry a lovely view of his ass while poorly trying to cover it with a hand. Harry just snickered behind his hand.

 

When he entered the bedroom again he couldn’t believe his eyes.  
“Oh for God’s sake Niall...!!” Niall had rolled and cocooned himself in the loosened cover that used to be over the mattress and was trying to find his sleep again. “Oh no, you don’t mister!” 

Louis was wide awake now and pissed for oversleeping. His hangover was forgotten for the moment when his annoyance was bigger right now. He lifted the mattress up on one side and keeled Niall straight onto the floor making him yelp.

At all the weird noises coming from the bedroom, Harry carefully looked in around the corner to see what was happening. He chuckled at the sight before him. Louis in his boxers trying to hold up the mattress as high as he could on one side and a very disgruntled Niall, also in his boxers on the floor next to the bed glaring angrily at the mattress that held Louis behind it. Harry held his hand in front of his mouth to cover his laugh. Louis looked at him and winked, smiling.

“Louis! You fucker. What’d you do that for?” Niall was cursing from his place on the ground in a very Irish manner and accent, legs tangled in the mattress cover. When he turned he spotted Harry laughing and groaned loudly. “Ugh… you two are the worst.” 

He picked up a shoe that was lying around and clumsily tried to throw it back over the now almost upstanding mattress Louis was still holding. The shoe flew up and hit the lightbulb that was hanging over the bed, causing it to break. Small bits of glass came tumbling down, making Niall cover his head to protect himself. “Shit. Sorry, Lou.”

Louis was startled by the sound of the breaking glass and had lowered the mattress so he could look over it. “Fuck, that’s my light Nialler.” He looked aghast at all the splinters of glass scattered over his floor. Niall did the same as Harry was biting his lip nervously.

“I’ll clean it up, just you wait and- ouch...” Niall had cut his finger on the glass and was now bleeding. 

Louis rolled his eyes, already lowering the mattress back onto the bed. 

“Ugh...come here, you clumsy clown. Watch out. Don't step into the glass. Let’s get you to the kitchen to wrap that finger up. Please don't bleed out on my sheets…” 

He was helping Niall up from within the mess, carefully guiding him out. Niall followed Louis like a meek little lamb as Harry tried to scrape the glass together with his shoe.

Louis looked at him and smiled. “Thank you. There are a dustpan and brush in the closet.” Harry nodded and went to get them, starting to clean up the glass. 

Louis sat Niall down in the kitchen and inspected his finger. It was a clean cut and it looked like there was no glass in it thankfully. He cleaned out the wound and put some iodine on it, making Niall wince. Louis snickered at Niall and blew over it to ease the sting.  
“Oh, you big baby…” Niall just glared at him.

“Hey, Lou? There is a new lightbulb in the closet. You want me to repair it?” Harry walked into the kitchen. He had the dustpan with him filled with the old broken bulb in pieces. He smirked when he saw that Louis was being so sweet to Niall. “Or should I call you nurse Louis?” 

“Shut up Styles. The boy is hurt. No need to make fun.” Louis smirked back at him, having a hard time keeping his laugh in as Harry giggled. Niall caught his look.

“You two are arseholes. I could’ve bled out, you know.” He tried his best to pout convincingly, failing miserably.

“Oh come on Nialler, it’s just a small cut. And you have to admit, you are being a bit of a baby here.” Louis reasoned with him. He looked back up at Harry, getting a band-aid out of his emergency kit. “If you don’t mind doing so my handyman, then yes please, change the damn thing. We both know I’m too short to do it.” he said raising his eyes upwards in annoyance.

Harry smiled at him with twinkling eyes, saying nothing at his comment, only turning his back and finding his way back to the closet where Louis could hear him get the ladder out. 

He returned to nursing Niall who was still pouting at his misfortunes of this mor- well... midday as it was well past noon already. He wrapped the band-aid around and softly kissed his friend's finger as he would with his little sisters, making Niall giggle and finally lose his pout.

He was just putting away all the stuff into the first aid kit as he heard a loud clattering sound in the other room, followed by a thud and a loud scream.

“Oh fuck, what now?”

He rushed over into the other room, to see what was going on, Niall in tow. His face turned pale at what he saw. Harry was sitting on the floor, next to the ladder that was now flat on the floor. He was holding his right leg with both hands in two places, eyes closed and his face contorted into one of agonising pain.

“Shit Haz, are you ok? Fuck, of course, you’re not. What happened? What can I do?” Louis was starting to panic now and kneeled beside Harry, placing his hand on his shoulder. Harry was now taking very concentrated deep breaths with his eyes closed, still holding on to his leg, obviously in pain. 

“The ladder fell over when I was changing the bulb. This is not good, Lou. I can feel it. Something is broken. I know it. I need to see a doctor.”

Louis’ face was one of horror. This couldn’t be happening. He was ready to cry. He could feel the tears stinging behind his eyelids. Except he couldn’t. He wasn’t the one in pain. Harry was. And he needed to be the strong one now. The clear-headed collected one. 

Only… he wasn’t. He was on the verge of a panic attack. He closed his eyes for a moment and did as Harry did. Deep breaths, as he heard Niall speak. “I’ll call the emergency room.” He was already on his phone walking off into the living room.

Louis opened his eyes only to look into Harry’s. They were darker than usual, pupils dilated and his face was showing that he was in a lot of pain, trying to keep it together. His body was rigid and tense. “You okay?”

Louis laughed nervously at Harry’s question. “You’re asking me if I’m ok?” Harry half smiled at him. 

“Yeah, you don’t look very well.”

“Harold, you broke god knows how many bones on my floor. I’m a little worried.”

“About your floor?” Louis knew that Harry was trying to distract him from this wretched situation, maybe also himself from his pain. He still took the bait.

“No, you asswipe. A- about... you.” He blushed saying it.

Harry smiled softly and lowered his gaze in a blush. Their moment was broken when Niall walked back into the room.

“They’re sending an ambulance. They’re coming to pick you up. You may wanna get some clothes on, Lou.” He was already picking up his own jeans and sticking one foot in. 

Louis realised he was still in his boxers and he suddenly sprung into action. He jumped into his pair of skinnies that he found lying about on the ground, almost falling over trying to get them on and threw a band shirt over his head, trying to get his arms to cooperate and get into the correct holes.

Louis almost snapped his neck looking back at Harry when he heard him make a noise that sounded something between a sigh and a whine. 

“W- will you come with me?” Harry suddenly looked scared, looking up at him from his place on the floor, still carefully keeping his leg in a firm hold.

Louis tried to give him a reassuring smile and nodded. “Of course I will don’t worry….”

 

 

*** Oh shit... doesn't look very good for Harry does it? Now what? Stay tuned... *singsongs the last part... (I know... I'm a bitch... ;-) hahaha)

 

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


	8. Chapter 8

 

As the ambulance medics showed up, Niall let them in, Louis staying by Harry’s side the entire time. They did a short evaluation of what had happened and moved him carefully onto their stretcher in a very impressive looking splint, keeping his leg immobile. Icepacks were put around his leg to cool any bruises.

Niall pushed Louis’ phone into his hands and grabbed a sweater for him before Louis climbed into the ambulance with Harry. The medic showed him the seat he could take next to the driver. He winked, hopefully encouragingly at Harry before he moved to the front of the ambulance. The ambulance drove off into the traffic leaving Niall alone at the apartment, feeling crappy and worried.

The drive over to the hospital was short and Louis could hear Harry softly talking to the medic that was in the back with him. It calmed him down a little, thinking that Harry’s pain must have subsided a little, but it did nothing for the guilty feeling that was bubbling in his gut. Harry shouldn’t have been on that ladder all by himself. Louis wished it was him on that stretcher instead of Harry. He sighed out and the driver next to him caught on.

“He’ll be fine I’m sure. Probably a broken foot or leg though. But he’ll live…”

He smiled at Louis as he glanced at him for a moment. Louis glanced back and tried for a smile but all he could manage was a grimace. He carefully slipped into his sweater and curled away in it.

They arrived at the hospital and it all went by in a whirl; the unloading of the stretcher and the walk through the corridors to the emergency room. There they were greeted by a kind-looking nurse who introduced herself as Cora and who took his name and medical information after she brought them into a room, announcing she was going to get the doctor.

The medics left after wishing Harry a speedy recovery, shaking both Harry's and Louis' hands goodbye. Harry laid back on the bed as they were left alone. He sighed.

“A-are you ok?” Louis had never felt this small. He hated the feeling.

“I’m a little better. The splint helps keep it still and so it hurts less than before. I’m... glad you’re here...”

Louis just nodded, not really knowing what to say. Luckily the nurse returned with a young female doctor. She introduced herself as Dr Mitchell. After hearing what had happened, she took a look at Harry’s leg and carefully felt around the splint, Harry hissing at the painful spot.

“Hmmm… let’s get an x-ray of this. I’m afraid it’s not just a bruise. Let’s get Mr Styles to the X-ray room, Cora? Call me back when you have the result.” she spoke to the nurse as she laid her hand on Harry’s arm for a moment and smiled at him.

The doctor signed a form and left the room as Cora made a phone call. Louis couldn’t understand what she was talking about. Some sort of medical shit. He looked back at Harry and there it was again. That scared look on his face.

Louis stepped up to his side and put his hand on the back of Harry’s who seemed startled for a moment but regained himself and turned his hand over so Louis’ fell into his. Louis looked at their joined hands and then at Harry’s face. He was smiling.

“H-Harry I… “

“Excuse me, young man. Could you please step aside? I need to get your boyfriend to the X-ray room. You can just wait here if you want.”

“Uh oh… he’s not… I mean…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll get him back I promise.” Cora patted his hand and softly moved Louis to the side.

Louis looked at Harry in confusion and shock about Cora’s statements but only found Harry smiling at him. Somewhat of a twinkle in his eyes.

As Cora rolled his bed out the door Harry smirked and winked at him. “Later babe…”

Louis almost choked on his own spit as he stood alone in the room. What the fuck just happened? Did Harry just pretend to be his boyfriend? Was he okay with that? Did he wanna be? Louis sure as hell wanted him to be. A million questions passed through his mind as he stood there dumbstruck.

 

___

 

After a sociable ride on the elevator with Cora, Harry arrived at the X-ray room. Cora had explained on the elevator what was going to happen. She and another nurse moved the bed under an impressive looking camera hanging from the ceiling. They put a board under his leg, Harry wincing at the movement forced on his leg and then they covered the rest of his body with a heavy blanket. Cora had explained it had lead in it to protect him from the radiation.

“Now, please stay very still, Harry.” the new nurse said as she moved to Cora who was standing behind a glass wall. Harry breathed slowly and closed his eyes concentrating very hard on not moving. They took two pictures from different angles.

As Cora came back to his side she was frowning. She rolled the bed out of the room and toward the elevator.

“I’m really not supposed to, but I can already tell you it’s clearly broken. It looks like a clean break.”

Harry looked at her startled. “Fuck… really?”

Cora nodded and hummed. The ride back down wasn’t as comfortable as before, both of them a little quiet as they got back to the emergency room.

As they got back to the room, Louis shot up from the only chair in the room. He had been texting and almost dropped his phone in his eagerness to get to Harry’s side. Harry smiled at him but he knew he looked sad.

“Hey...uhm… are you okay? Do you know anything…?” Louis looked worried.

Cora left the room to go get the doctor, leaving them alone again.

“Cora thinks it’s broken. I mean… it feels broken too. So…”

Louis hummed. “Hmm… let’s see what the doc says, yeah?”

“Louis-...”

“Mr Styles... I have the result for your X-ray.”

Doctor Mitchell walked back into the room, followed by Cora who closed the door behind herself. Dr Mitchell pulled up the X-ray from a computer onto a screen on the wall and Harry’s bones lit up on it. She pointed her finger to the picture.

“I’m sorry to tell you that it is indeed broken as I suspected. As you can see here, it is a clean break of the tibia or as you may know it, your shin. I also believe your knee and ankle are badly bruised from the fall.” Harry briefly glanced at Cora who was standing off the side, listening in. She winked at him.

Dr Mitchell turned around walking over to Harry and put her hand on his shoulder in comfort. Harry just looked at her in horror.

“You took quite a tumble there, mister. I’m afraid we will have to put it into a cast. You are lucky that the break is this clean so we won’t have to operate.”

“W-what does that mean?” Harry sounded insecure as Louis watched him carefully. Harry was fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

“It means it will heal in time. There is no swelling. That means we will put you in a fibreglass plaster cast for six weeks. No pressure on it. So no walking. After that, we will see how the break looks and if it has healed, which I can’t see any reason for it not to, then you will be on your way into therapy. I’m sorry. I can’t make it any more pleasant than this.” Dr Mitchell sounded compassionate and so was the look in her eyes.

“Oh…” was all that Harry said. Louis looked at him and he could see the tears in Harry’s eyes but he was trying really hard to keep it together. So Louis cleared his throat and stood straighter as he spoke up.

“Okay, so six weeks you say? No walking?”

Dr Mitchell turned to look at Louis as if she had forgotten that he was there as well.

“Uhm… yes. Six weeks. Of course, I will want to see him back sometime halfway through to make sure it’s all healing like we want it to.”

Louis nodded at her.

“How are your living arrangements, Harry?” She looked back at Harry.

“Uh…fine…”

Dr Mitchell smiled at him. “No, I mean… a house or apartment. Do you live alone or is there someone to help you?”

“Oh uh right… I live alone in my apartment.”

She wrote down his answer in the chart she had picked up again and hummed.

“Apartment… right… what floor? Does it have a lift? Because you can’t walk any stairs.”

“Uhm… third… n-no…”

The doctor looked up and assessed his face. “Mmm… yeah, that won’t work…”

“He can stay with me…”

Harry snapped his head up to look at Louis as he heard him speak the words. Louis’ face looked as if he wasn’t sure he’d just said out loud what he did either.

“Lou-”

“No...Harry, it’s fine. You can stay at my place. If it wasn’t for me you’d never have been on that ladder in the first place. He is staying at my house doctor.” he concluded firmly looking at Dr Mitchell.

Dr Mitchell looked back at Harry before she wrote anything down. When Harry nodded in a silent response she smiled and noted the information on her sheet. She handed the sheet to Louis and asked him to write down the address where Harry would be staying in case they needed to contact him. As Louis did so, she and Cora left the room to arrange an appointment at the plaster room.

Harry looked at Louis while he was writing. “Louis… are you sure? You don’t have to do this. It’s for six weeks. I can just see if-”

“No Harry… I’m sure. Let me do this for you. I like hanging out with you and now I get to have you around full time. Also… I win because if you get sick of me, you can’t run away…”

He smirked and winked at Harry.

Harry chuckled at Louis’ logic. He loved it when Louis was being sassy and the idea of staying at Louis’ place did sound like heaven to him, even if he was gonna be a lame duck during the time.

Cora and Dr Mitchell returned and Louis handed Cora the sheet he had filled in. Dr Mitchell shook Harry’s hand.

“Alright, Harry. Cora here will take you to the plaster room and take care of you from here. I have set up an appointment in three weeks. Again, Cora has the details. I hope you will heal well. Take care of yourself and I will see you in a few weeks. And remember no walking on it...”

She turned to Louis and reached out her hand to him. He took it and they shook hands as well. “Take good care of him, young man. Keep an eye on him to rest that leg.” She tried to make it sound serious but there was a playful undertone.

Louis nodded at her with a fake-serious face. “I will doctor. I will be the toughest nurse ever.” He couldn’t help the little twitch in his lip when he saw the doctor wink at him.

Harry just rolled his eyes at the two. Cora barked out a laugh at Harry’s reaction and that resulted in everyone smiling and laughing around the room before they said goodbye to the doctor who left them in the nurse’s capable hands.

They gathered all of their stuff, left the room and Cora and Louis rolled the bed through the corridors of the hospital on their way to the plaster room. The mood had lightened again and they joked around in the elevator, all laughing at one of Harry’s lame jokes.

When they arrived in the plaster room, they met with a young man, Jake and he started on setting Harry’s leg in the right position, removing the splint. Harry hissed again at the movement and Louis held his hand for him to squeeze.

Jake started with Harry’s leg in a fabric tube first, before wrapping a bandage around it and then, in the end, the fibreglass casting tape was added. He held Harry’s leg in position so it could dry and harden out.

Harry wasn’t in any pain anymore now that his leg was in position and stabilised, but he didn’t let go of Louis’ hand. He liked holding onto it and as long as Louis wasn’t taking it away, he sure as hell wasn’t going to either.

As he looked up at Louis’ face he thought he could make out a soft smile he was trying to hide. They held hands as Cora explained all the rules Harry had to follow and she handed him a medical brochure on fractures and their healing process.

She had gotten them a wheelchair and crutches and both boys thanked her for her care and said their goodbyes. Louis then pushed Harry in his wheelchair down the corridors towards the main entrance where they hailed a cab. After helping Harry into the car, Louis climbed in after him. Harry shivered slightly as Louis leaned in close as he whispered in his ear. 

“Let’s go and get you home…”

Home. Harry smiled...

 

 

*** As always let me know what you think will or should happen... I'm curious... Thank you for reading and being this patient with me <3

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the pictures used in this fiction. I only use them to strengthen the story. All rights go to their owners. I always try to keep the watermarks in manips. Sometimes they just don't fit in the box I use for my collages. Please understand. It is not on purpose and all rights stay with their owners. Please don't copy or share anything without my permission.

Also, writers love comments. Just saying.... ;-)


End file.
